


Moments

by sultrysweet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-28 07:49:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6321103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sultrysweet/pseuds/sultrysweet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is a series of moments, good and bad. When Emma and Regina are together, the bad outweigh the good. From first kisses and first dates to domesticity and slight disagreements, Emma and Regina get their happily ever after. One way or another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kicks and Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is one of the prompts from the 31 Days of Swan Queen Fanon on Tumblr. I'm posting these short fics out of order from the prompt dates that are listed on the SQ Fanon blog. Don't ask me why that is because I don't even really understand why I'm doing it this way. 
> 
> The prompt for the first chapter is: What weird habits do they complain about from the other but secretly miss when the other is gone?

She felt the inevitable kick and the soon-to-form bruise. It shouldn’t have been a pet peeve of hers. Emma had explained why she did it and that she never meant to hurt Regina, but the younger woman hadn’t been able to control it. It was something Emma did from time to time ever since she was a child being shuffled from one place to the other. And the group home was always the worst.

Regina was sympathetic, but aggravation set in after a month of non-stop bruises to her shins. She groaned and rolled away from Emma before she contemplated her next move, as she did most nights. She either stayed in bed and bared it or she moved to the guest room for a peaceful, bruise-less sleep. That night, she chose the guest room. As soon as she sat up, however, she felt Emma shift toward her in bed and drape an arm over her leg, seemingly too tired to wrap it all the way around Regina’s waist.

“No. Please don’t go,” Emma grumbled into the mattress.

Regina looked over her shoulder and noticed the pout on the younger woman’s face despite her closed eyes. It was evident to Regina that the blonde was trying to chase sleep even as she attempted to coax the brunette back to bed.

“Emma, you’re kicking again.”

“I’m sorry. Just heal it and sleep with me.”

Regina sighed and took Emma’s hand in her own before she turned around and faced the other woman. She remained sitting, but continued to hold Emma’s hand. “What if I stay until you fall asleep?”

“No.”

“No?”

“When I kick, it means I’m already not sleeping well. If you leave, or if you even plan to leave, I’ll never get to sleep.”

“I _can’t_ suffer any more abuse,” Regina pleadingly said.

“And it annoys me when you leave. I need you. Please?”

She opened her mouth to argue further, but Emma popped open her bleary green eyes and stared up at her with a face she couldn’t deny. “It really annoys you when I leave?”

Emma stayed silent for a moment and then admitted with a rhetorical question, “Why do you think I told you why I kick after the first night you stayed in the guest room?”

“You wouldn’t have told me otherwise,” she asked with a furrowed brow and hurt expression.

“I would have, but not in the middle of the night when I got up and looked all over the damn house for you, scared something else had happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

Emma took a deep breath and pulled her hand free of Regina’s grasp before she rolled onto her stomach and slid down the bed. She grabbed one of Regina’s legs, the one closest to her, and stretched it out in front of her. She ran a hand up from Regina’s ankle to her knee before she leaned in and kissed one of the already healing bruises.

Regina’s breath hitched and she steadied herself as best she could with her fists clenched around the edge of the bed.

“If you lay back, you’ll probably enjoy it more,” Emma said with a warm and slightly teasing smile. “Stay.”

Maybe being kicked in the shins every once in a while wasn’t such an annoyance after all. Not if it meant Emma would rectify the pain with extremely enjoyable reminders of just how much the blonde loved her.

She pulled herself onto the bed fully and did as Emma had suggested. Emma moved with her so both of them were comfortable before the younger woman started to kiss her way up Regina’s leg again. With Regina on her back, Emma dared to kiss higher than her knee and showed her immense love. Multiple times.

After that night, Regina never left their shared bed even if Emma accidentally kicked her. After that night, Emma always made sure to kiss her after every kick, make love to her after every bruise and cuddle with her as they both finally fell into a blissful sleep.


	2. More Than a First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: How does their first kiss go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the longest fic I wrote for one of the prompts so far.

Neal sat on the floor with his feet tucked beneath himself and his knees pressed into the living room carpet in front of the couch. He bounced up and down as his cartoons played on the TV and rocked back and forth whenever there was a song. Emma sat with her back against one end of the couch, her knees pulled up near her chest, with her attention drawn to the iPad in her lap. It was something Regina bought her for her last birthday.

Regina walked past the room and immediately, Neal yelled out to her.

“Gina, Gina! Come look.”

Emma’s head snapped up and she looked over at Regina. “Hey,” she greeted with a smile. “Thanks for letting us crash here while my parents have their date night.”

Regina smiled back and replied, “Of course. Anything to spend more time with some of my favorite people in the world.”

Regina directed her words more at little Neal than she did at Emma, but Regina still made it a point to look at the blonde to let her know she was also important.

“Gina!”

Regina looked away from Emma and gave Neal all her attention. She beamed at him and walked toward him before she crouched down beside him. “What is it?”

He grinned and grabbed her face between his hands before he leaned in and kissed her. He giggled when he pulled away and Regina’s eyes shined with happiness as she looked at him.

“Love you,” Neal said.

Regina chuckled. “I love you, too.”

Emma’s cheeks turned pink as she tried and failed to suppress a smile while she stared at the two of them.

“Unfortunately, my love for you doesn’t get you out of bath time and bed,” Regina informed him.

“No!” He crossed his arms and pouted as he turned away from Regina.

“Neal,” Regina said with a warning tone and arched eyebrow.

“No,” he yelled again and started to crawl away from her on his knees, his arms still crossed over his chest.

“Come on now, Buddy,” Emma cut in. “Time to get cleaned up.”

Neal whipped his head around and glared at Emma like he’d just been betrayed. “Emma,” he whined. “You ‘posed to be on my side.”

“Sorry, Kid. Gina’s house, Gina’s rules. Plus, she’s right.”

“I usually am,” Regina said. “And only he can call me Gina.”

“Yeah, only _I_ call her Gina.”

“Oh, so _now_ you’re on _her_ side? Way to be loyal,” Emma said.

“I on _my_ side,” Neal said before he jumped onto his feet and bolted from the room.

“Great, now look what you’ve done,” Regina teasingly scolded the blonde as she slowly stood up. “I haven’t chased a resistant little boy around the house since our son was about Neal’s age.”

Emma’s smile faded as she ducked her head.

“Oh…Emma. I didn’t- I didn’t mean to remind you of—”

“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault and…at least I’m here now. Neal’s not my kid, he’s not _ours_ , but…he’s family and…now I have a chance to do this. Like I didn’t get with Henry. Plus, I still have those memories you gave me, so that’s something.”

“Well, there are lot more firsts in Henry’s life that you’ll be around for. In the meantime, why don’t _you_ chase down your baby brother?”

“Really? I thought maybe you’d like chasing another Charming around,” Emma teased.

“Ha ha,” Regina dryly responded. “Go get Neal. I’ll start the bath.”

Within ten minutes, which was actually a remarkable record given Neal’s energy and speed, Emma brought him to Regina’s bathroom upstairs. He giggled as she carried him over her shoulder and smiled at Regina when the two of them locked eyes.

“One Charming little man, ready to go,” the blonde said. “Well, sort of.”

“Em- _ma_! Put me down,” Neal laughed.

“Sure thing,” Emma said as she put him back on his feet. Neal tried to run off again, but she stopped him. “Oh, no you don’t, Kid.”

He groaned and pouted, but allowed Emma to gently push him toward the tub where Regina sat on the ledge.

Regina chuckled and held out her arms for Neal. “Time to get you out of these,” Regina said as she grabbed the bottom of Neal’s shirt.

Neal raised his arms and let Regina undress him before she lifted him and set him down in the warm water. “Gina, you wash my hair ‘gain? Like before?”

“Of course,” Regina said with a smile. “But _I_ think your sister should do the rest.”

“Yeah! Emma, do the rest,” Neal happily agreed.

“Thanks,” Emma sarcastically said and sat down on the edge of the tub as well. Her knees knocked against Regina’s when they turned to take care of Neal.

Regina rinsed out Neal’s hair for a minute or two while Emma grabbed a washcloth and dipped it in the bath. When Emma wrung out the washcloth, she watched with rapt attention as Neal closed his eyes and smiled as he allowed Regina to bathe him. Her little brother looked content to have Regina run her fingers through his hair while she dumped water onto him over and over again.

Once his hair was completely soaked, the brunette set aside the cup she’d used to pour the bathwater on his head and picked up the shampoo.

“No tears,” Neal said when he opened his eyes and followed Regina’s hand as she moved the shampoo toward the two of them.

“That’s right,” Regina agreed with a smile. “But if it stings at all, you tell me. Okay?”

“‘Kay,” Neal replied with a single bob of his head.

“Close your eyes,” Regina instructed.

Neal did as he was told, but he splashed his hands in the water while Regina lathered up his normally sandy blonde hair. Because it was wet, his hair looked more brown than blonde at that moment. Within the next minute, he started to hum while he sat almost completely still as Regina styled his hair.

Emma stifled her laughter as she watched Regina shape Neal’s hair into a Mohawk. Her brother looked adorable as he patiently let it happen and Regina looked at ease for the first time in months. Things had been a little rocky and strained with Zelena since the redhead found her way back to Storybrooke for the sake of seeing her daughter. Though Zelena had been back for a year raising her daughter and keeping mostly to herself, she was still openly upset with Regina about having sent her off to Oz without her daughter in the first place.

Her parents may have thought they needed a date night, but every time Emma was around to see Regina babysit Neal she knew it was also something the brunette needed. He brought out Regina’s smile and softer side just like Henry always did. It always warmed Emma’s heart to see her son and her brother have that effect on the other woman. It was an incredible sight to see.

“Emma!”

Neal’s loud voice pulled her away from deeper thoughts and she returned to the moment to see a soapy Mohawk at its finest.

“Pi-sure,” Neal demanded with a wide smile as he threw up his arms, and in the process splashed droplets of water on both her and Regina.

Regina laughed and Emma made a face, though she continued to smile, as she wiped the water off her cheeks. She looked down to see the damage done to her clothes, which thankfully was minimal, before she pulled out her phone.

“Okay,” she told him as she opened the camera app. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Say Flock of Seagulls,” she said.

“What,” Neal asked as he furrowed his brow and tilted his head.

Emma laughed as she snapped the photo. She took another one just in case either she or Neal had moved during the first one and then set her phone down on the wall shelf just beneath the medicine cabinet.

“You know he probably won’t get that joke even when he’s older,” Regina rhetorically asked as she looked away from Neal for the first time since they entered the bathroom.

“Maybe not, but my mom understands it and that’s all I need. Besides, _you_ made the joke.”

“Once,” Regina corrected her. “I told her one time she looked like a member of A Flock of Seagulls in the Author’s alternate reality and watched her weakly defend her actions as not being in her control. _You’re_ the one that likes to constantly bring it up.”

Emma shrugged.

“And it’s not even my best joke at your mother’s expense,” Regina added.

“That’s not why I keep bringing it up,” Emma said with bright eyes to match the bright smile on her face.

Regina frowned. “Then why do you do it?”

“Because my mom’s reaction to me repeating one of _your_ jokes is _twice_ as funny as her reaction to making any kind of dig at her.”

Regina arched a brow and a corner of her mouth curled into a lopsided smirk. “Really?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Gina,” Neal whined and splashed the water a few times for attention. Both women turned to him and saw his cute pout before he somewhat harshly said, “Hair.”

“Alright, alright,” Regina responded before she replaced the shampoo in her hand with the cup she’d set aside. “Close your eyes.”

He tipped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut.

Regina filled the cup with water from the bath again and touched a hand to Neal’s forehead to keep the runoff shampoo out of his eyes before she poured the water onto his hair. She repeated the action over and over and moved her free hand to occasionally run through his hair as a way to ensure all the shampoo was rinsed out.

“Thank you,” Emma awkwardly blurted out when the silence gnawed at her a little too much.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve already said that tonight and it wasn’t even on your behalf.”

“This time it is.”

Regina glanced at her before she rinsed off more of Neal’s hair.

“I still have my house,” Emma continued once Regina focused on Neal again. “The one I took over when I was…not really myself.” She hesitated to reference her time as the Dark One, especially around Neal. Things hadn’t ended well and she hated any reminders of that dark point in her life, much like Regina wasn’t thrilled to be reminded of her time as the Evil Queen.

“I know how you feel about that place,” Regina said. “Even if you aren’t alone there, I wouldn’t let you go back unless you were ready.”

“But…my parents still have their apartment. They could have easily just gone to the bed and breakfast if they wanted somewhere to…crash after their date.”

“If you’re worried about this, you and Neal being here, as an imposition, it’s not. It never has been.”

“You say that, but—”

“But nothing. Now that Henry’s hardly here, my home doesn’t quite feel like a home without a little company.”

“I doubt we’re the kind of company you want,” Emma quietly replied.

“Are you kidding? You two are great,” Regina directed her words at Neal before she leaned in and smiled at him when he risked getting soap in his eyes to look at her. “And you’re much better than the other potential company I could have.”

“Yeah? Who’s our competition,” Emma asked.

Regina laughed and answered, “It’s not much of a competition.” She looked at Emma that time instead of Neal as she spoke. “You two will win every time.”

Emma smiled like she had that day years ago in Regina’s crypt.

“I love my niece, but things are just so complicated,” Regina added.

“Well, it’s not like things weren’t complicated with us.”

“No, but…it’s not the same. Not now, and maybe not even before.”

“You nearly killed me with your apple turnover,” Emma wryly mentioned.

“What’s that,” Neal asked.

Regina took a deep breath and answered, “That is a delicious dessert I made for your sister. But I accidentally added the wrong ingredient, and Henry ate it instead. He was sick for a few hours and I haven’t made it since.”

“You make it for me?” Neal looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

Regina gave him a sad smile and said, “I don’t know, sweetie. I’d have to make it with all the right ingredients this time and I’ll have to ask your parents before I do.”

“‘Kay,” Neal happily said. “Love you!”

“I love you, too,” Regina replied.

“Kiss!”

Regina chuckled and put the cup down on the floor before she kissed Neal on the cheek.

“No, silly,” he said through his laughter. “Here.”

Emma cupped a hand over her mouth when Neal pointed at his lips, but the hand fell away and her own hushed laughter turned to an expression of awe as Regina gave Neal the kiss he’d asked for.

“Now Emma,” he joyfully insisted.

“You want a kiss from me,” Emma asked as she pointed at herself, to which Neal responded with a nod. “I thought that was just something you and Regina did.”

“We do it now,” he said before he lunged forward over the edge of the tub and wrapped his little arms around her neck, at least as much as he could reach. “Kiss!”

“You’re all wet,” Emma groaned.

“Kiss!”

Regina laughed beside them, which made Emma glare at her before the blonde relented and gave her brother a peck on the lips.

When Neal pulled away, Emma’s tank top was soaked through from her chest to her hips. She picked at it and held it away from her skin with a frown.

“You can borrow one of my shirts,” Regina offered before she looked at Neal and ruffled his wet hair. “You’re just like your nephew.”

“Henny,” Neal cheered. “When Henny come home?”

“Not for a while, I’m afraid,” Regina admitted. “But he’d love to see you as soon as he does.”

Regina gently bopped Neal on the nose with her finger and smiled. It was infectious, as usual. Neal smiled back and so did Emma.

“Kiss!”

“We just did that,” Regina said with a small laugh.

“Not me,” Neal said like Regina was supposed to already know that. “You ‘n Emma.”

Regina’s eyebrows shot to the top of her head before she found an excuse to change the subject. “Neal, we still have to get you cleaned up.”

“Kiss!”

“Neal,” Emma tried to sound authoritative, but her brother didn’t let her finish her sentence.

“Kiss, kiss, kiss!”

The two women looked at each other and Emma blushed before she decided to move in. She leaned in and lingered up close before she kissed Regina’s cheek.

“Like that,” Emma asked Neal.

“No,” he replied with a smile.

Emma hummed and leaned in again, careful to make sure Regina didn’t look upset or appalled. She mostly only looked shocked after the kiss, but Neal’s voice seemed to make her relax and live in the moment. So Emma kissed her other cheek.

“How about that,” she asked Neal for his approval again.

“No,” he repeated, a little less enthusiastically that time and a little more upset.

“Well, I don’t think I can do this the way you want until you’re clean and in bed,” Emma explained. 

Neal huffed and pouted, but said, “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Emma said to him before she grabbed the washcloth again.

Regina handed her the soap and as their hands brushed during the exchange, the brunette gave her a look. So much was said in her chocolate brown eyes and the expression was familiar. They’d danced around it for years, whatever it was that was between them. They were friends, but there was always something else just beneath the surface that neither had reached, or dared to outwardly acknowledge aside from the looks like the one Regina gave her in that moment.

Emma cleared her throat and finally looked away from Regina before she started to wash Neal. Neither of them talked for the remainder of the boy’s bath and after several more minutes, he was completely clean.

“ _Now_ kiss,” Neal suggested as he raised his arms and opened and closed his fists.

Regina held up a fluffy towel to wrap him in and did so as soon as the water had drained enough not to get the ends wet. She picked him up, as the opening and closing of his fists insisted he’d either wanted or had expected, and sat him down on her lap where she remained on the edge of the tub. Immediately, Neal started to rock back and forth with his excitement.

“Kiss, kiss,” he repeated.

Emma looked at Regina to see the brunette’s bright and beautiful smile. Regina’s eyes then drifted back to Neal and up at Emma again as though to silently communicate something. Regina glanced between Neal and Emma a couple more times before the blonde started to understand. She flashed Regina a smile in response and leaned in toward Neal. Regina didn’t wait too long before she did the same.

They each kissed one of his cheeks, a bubbly Neal between the two of them, but even as he laughed he wasn’t satisfied.

“No! Do it right!”

“There’s no right way to kiss someone,” Emma informed him.

He sighed loudly and squirmed his way out of Regina’s lap as he said, “You no fun.”

Neal dashed out of the bathroom and as soon as he crossed the threshold into Regina’s bedroom, the towel came undone and fell to the floor. He giggled once he was naked and, naturally, jumped up onto Regina’s bed.

“ _Charming_ ,” Regina drawled with a grin.

Neal wriggled his way under the covers and leaned back against one of the pillows before he called out, “Gina, come read. It night, night.”

“I swear, my brother loves you more than me,” Emma said.

“Well, he did jump naked into my bed,” Regina joked.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Emma joked back before she peeled off her wet tank top and laughed before she bolted from the bathroom.

In only her bra and a pair of borrowed silk shorts, which came from Regina’s dresser, Emma jumped on Regina’s bed similarly to Neal. She slid under the covers and looked at Neal before the two of them giggled together.

“Come on, Gina,” Neal called out again a moment later, laughter still audible in his voice.

“Yeah, Regina,” Emma chimed in and smiled at the brunette. “Come on. This could be the last time you might ever get to chase a Charming…or two.”

“I highly doubt that,” Regina replied under her breath.

The brunette got up and walked in to join the other two in her room. Because Emma was on the side of the bed closest to the bathroom, Regina was forced to squeeze in next to her. That didn’t sit well with Neal, however, who then crawled over Emma to situate himself between the two women.

“We really need to put jammys on you, little boy,” Regina said before Neal lunged into a hug with her.

“No. I free,” Neal exclaimed.

“Of course you take after your sister,” Regina said. “If Emma could, she would be sleeping naked just like you.”

Neal laughed when he faced Regina and then told Emma, “Do it.”

“Oh. Uh, no, Kid. I can’t do that. That’s a, uh, special privilege and I don’t have it.”

“Only me,” Neal asked with wide eyes.

“Only you,” Emma said with a smile.

When he fell asleep, which wasn’t too long after that moment, Regina looked over the top of Neal’s head at Emma and said, “Being naked in my bed is a privilege, hmm?”

Emma cleared her throat and stuttered a little bit before she replied, “Yeah.”

“So, you wouldn’t be tempted to strip unless I told you to,” Regina asked with a smirk.

“Um, are you asking me to?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t ask you to answer the door in only a tank top and red lace panties the second day you were in town. But I suppose it’s more fun if I get to tell you what to do…and what to take off.”

Regina’s eyes raked over Emma’s body in the dark room before she slid down in bed to lay on her side beside Neal, who slept between them.

“Regina Mills, are you telling me you were checking me out that day?”

“I’m checking you out right now,” Regina confessed with a smirk that was hard to see, but easy to hear in the tone of her voice.

Emma licked her lips before she took a page out of Neal’s playbook. “Love you,” she said to Regina.

Regina quietly chuckled, but didn’t give her usual response like she would have with Neal. Instead, she leaned in over the boy and kissed Emma on the lips. It was the kiss Neal had wanted them to do in front of him, but that kiss was just the first. Almost as soon as they touched, the feeling of their lips against each other were addicting and they had to feel more. With Neal between them, kissing was all they did and nothing went above the teen rating. However, their kisses were not something a young child should witness and definitely wasn’t the kind only friends shared.

When they finally parted, Emma had the biggest grin and Regina looked beautifully content.

“Tomorrow night, I’m taking you out,” Emma said. “On a real date. Maybe outside of Storybrooke. And then we can drop by Henry’s school and pay him a surprise visit.”

Regina beamed at her and replied, “I’d love that.”

Emma shifted closer to Regina and Neal. “Love you,” she tried again.

Regina sighed, but continued to smile while she said, “I love you, too.”


	3. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do they deal with Henry going to college? Or high school for that matter? Who is impossible at parent/teacher conferences?

“I’ll be fine, Moms. You worry too much,” Henry said while Regina and Emma squeezed him in one of their group hugs.

“We’re your mothers. Of course we worry too much,” Regina replied before both women reluctantly pulled away.

Henry smiled at them once his face wasn’t buried in their hair. “You two raised me to make good choices and after everything we’ve faced together, how can you think me going away to college is scary?”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Henry,” Emma said. “We do. We just don’t trust other people.”

“And this is your first time away from home. Well, without one of us being with you,” Regina added.

“That’s a good thing,” Henry said and smiled a little wider. “I know I belong here. Storybrooke is my home. But…I want to have a life outside of here, at least for a little while. Emma got to do it, and my dad. Now it’s my turn.”

Regina smiled back at him, but her eyes were filled with tears that had yet to fall. “My little prince is all grown up.”

“And coming home for my first visit in less than four months,” he replied with a chuckle. “It’ll be Thanksgiving before you know it, and then you'll blink and I'll be back again for Christmas. Besides, we all have phones. Magical, secret town in Maine or not, we’ll text and call and video chat when we can or when we need to.”

“It won’t be the same,” Regina confessed.

“But it’s better than nothing, right,” Henry asked them.

“Definitely,” Emma answered.

“I promise I’ll come home in one piece,” Henry told them with a grin.

“That is not funny, Henry Daniel Mills,” Regina scolded him. “Not after the amount of times we’ve almost lost you.”

“Regina, relax. He’ll call us if he’s in any trouble,” Emma said and then looked at Henry. “Right, Kid?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I love you, Moms.”

“We love you, too,” Regina said before both she and Emma pulled him into another hug.

“Um, you guys know you’re coming with me to drop me off, right,” Henry asked with a bit of a struggle as they nearly suffocated him.

“We need as much time for goodbyes as we can get,” Regina said.

“Okay, but how about we save the real goodbyes when we’re standing in my dorm,” Henry requested. “Right now I just want to have one last family meal with my moms in the house I grew up in before we leave.”

Always willing to give in to Henry and almost every single one of his whims, the three of them sat down for brunch in the Mills’ family dining room. Snow and Charming arrived a little later than expected with Neal, but no one—not even Regina—complained. They were welcomed almost halfway through the meal and the six of them ate together until it was time to make the drive to New York.

Before they did that, his grandparents spoiled him with two hundred dollars tucked inside a “Congrats Grad” card along with a sentimental message about how they’d enjoyed watching him grow into the wise, brave and creative young man he was. It almost moved him to tears, but he was able to keep his emotions in check while Snow and Regina broke down and cried. Again.

Charming and Emma remained happy and proud while Regina and Snow had to pass tissues back and forth from the travel pack Regina specifically bought for when they left him at the school and she just couldn’t contain her emotions any longer. It was a good thing Emma snuck another eight packages in their cart before they hit the checkout the day they bought them and other supplies, because they were going to need them. Regina and Emma gave him a joint gift of all the essential items he needed while he would be on his own, including a care package with chocolates and other junk food for him to enjoy while he was adjusting to life away at college.

As soon as gift giving was over, Snow and Charming said their goodbyes to Henry from the foyer. They stayed at the mansion with Neal and agreed to clean up the dishes from brunch while Emma and Regina drove him to the university.  With one less thing for the two of them to worry about, they got into Regina’s Mercedes and the three of them made their way out of town.

Regina was behind the wheel all the way to New York with Emma navigating from the passenger's seat. Henry sat in the back with a backpack full of books that he pulled out to read during the trip, which made him a very quiet and boring passenger. Emma didn’t mind because she was too focused on trying to play her road trip music in a way that would allow the whole car to hear, but every few minutes Regina couldn’t help but look into the rear view mirror to check on their son.

Finally, around dinner time, the family of three had arrived in New York. They stopped for dinner at a nice restaurant near the school while the sun was in the middle of its descent behind the horizon. During dinner, Emma gave Henry a rundown of how the subway and train station worked. Henry spent a majority of that time telling Emma he already knew because he’d lived their with her once before for an entire year. After the third time he’d mentioned that, Regina withdrew from the conversation.

Emma was the first to notice. As soon as she did, the blonde reached out under the table and placed a hand on her lower thigh. She squeezed just above Regina’s knee while she listened to Henry go on and on about all the things he had scheduled after orientation the next day.

Regina turned and gave Emma a grateful smile, to which Emma responded with a smile of her own and a caring look in her warm eyes. Henry remained oblivious. Or at least, that was what Emma and Regina had believed until they said their final goodbyes at the dorm hall.

“I don’t think I need to tell you,” Henry started to say. “But take care of each other while I’m gone.”

One last hug as they told him, “Be good” and “be safe” and then Emma and Regina left their son in his small, shared dorm room. Regina managed to hold it together from his room to the parking lot, but she was a mess as soon as they reached the Mercedes.

Emma pulled a fresh pack of tissues out of her pocket and ripped them open calmly but quickly. Wordlessly, she offered a few tissues to Regina and looked at her with empathy, her eyes watery and sad as she started to get emotional. The difference between them was that Emma kept it together. She had to, for both of them.

After Regina took the tissues and used them to wipe her eyes, Emma grabbed the keys out of the brunette's hand. “I’ll drive,” Emma said.

About half an hour into their trip back home, Regina had cried herself to sleep in the passenger's seat. Emma waited another ten minutes to see if Regina would wake herself up, but she didn’t. The blonde then smiled to herself and drove home in silence, but she reached out a hand and took one of Regina’s in her own. Regina remained asleep for the entire ride back and Emma held her hand for the same amount of time.

When Henry visited for Thanksgiving, he came home to find out Emma was a permanent fixture at the mansion and had been for almost as long as he'd been away. He also found out his brunette mother was capable of giggling and that his blonde mother was _incapable_ of keeping her hands to herself.

 


	4. From Innocent Leftovers to Dirty Desserts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is the first to find out about them and how?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason why this collection of mini fics is rated M. I'm not sure there will be more mini fics like this by the time the 31 days are over, but it's possible there could be more smut or implied/referenced smut later.

On one of the slower nights at the station, Regina would stop by with leftovers for Emma. She always claimed it was because Henry had expressed his concerns about her eating habits when she worked late, especially when she didn't really have to, but David always wondered if Regina didn't do it for an entirely different reason. As if the brunette sensed his suspicions, Regina started to bring enough leftovers for both of them on the nights he worked as well. At first he wasn't sure how Regina just so happened to know his work schedule, but after the third night she'd brought food for him he'd realized that Emma would always get and reply to a text thirty minutes before Regina popped by.

At the end of every work week for the entire month, Regina came by with dinner for them and said a few quick hellos before she went home and went through a similar routine with Henry. Some nights she already had dinner in the oven at her home on Mifflin Street and other nights she had yet to prepare anything, which she explained was due to it being Henry's choice of dinner on those nights and she typically wouldn't see him for more than a few minutes before heading to the station most times. They all seemed like good, believable excuses, but David couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Regina's visits than either she or his own daughter wanted to admit.

The mystery behind Regina's true intentions didn't remain a secret much longer after that month.

Less than two weeks into the next month, David was set to go home at the end of his regular shift. He usually went home around 5pm unless it was a Friday, which was when they finished up all their paperwork to be sent over to Town Hall, or if they had a particularly heavy workload. A heavy workload was rare for them and that night was no exception, but he quickly realized he left one of Neal's toys at the station. He wasn't at the apartment for more than a twenty minutes when Neal started to throw a fit. David had completely forgotten his son had a habit of leaving his belongings everywhere he went and Neal had been with him at work earlier that day when Granny had dropped him off after he'd thrown one too many crayons at the customers as they'd walked in.

When he arrived back at the station almost an hour later, nothing warned or prepared him for what he was about to see. There was no indication that anyone but Emma was in the station, just as she had been when he left. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so he walked in and made himself known. The problem was that he hadn’t announced his presence soon enough.

That was his mistake.

As he rounded the corner into the bullpen, he jingled the keys to his truck in his hand before he looked up and stared at the two empty cells across the room. He turned to look into the sheriff’s office, which he’d allowed Emma to keep despite their co-Sheriff titles, in search of his daughter. The bullpen was as empty as the cells, so he figured she’d be in the office unless she’d just run to the bathroom.

When he saw her, he only wished Emma had been in the bathroom instead.

He heard Regina moan before he fully processed what he’d walked in on. He hadn’t given them time to pull apart before his eyes landed on them just as he’d started to ask, “Emma? Have you seen Neal’s—?”

He didn’t have the ability to finish his question.

Thankfully, he didn’t see any body parts, but unfortunately he still knew without a doubt _exactly_ what they were doing.

Before they were able to jump away from each other, he caught Regina on Emma’s desk with her legs spread, her back to him and her dress hiked up to her hips. All he could see of his daughter were her hands as they gripped Regina’s ass and thighs and Regina’s hand tangled in blonde hair where Emma’s head was nestled between the other woman’s legs.

Regina seemed to be the only one that heard him. She whipped her head around and made eye contact with him over her shoulder. There was an initial hint of shock in her expression, but it was quickly replaced with amusement. That might have had something to do with his wide eyes and slack-jaw expression, which was directed at Regina and not his own daughter.

Regina’s amusement slipped within seconds when she gasped. She looked down at Emma, who had yet to look up or even stop what she was doing between the brunette’s thighs, and tightened her fist in his daughter’s hair. He looked from the back of Regina’s head to the hand she had in Emma’s hair just when the woman’s grip intensified. And because his attention had shifted, he also saw the way Regina’s legs twitched.

“What the hell is going on here,” he asked in his most booming tone of voice. He hoped it would reach Emma’s ears despite her position at the time and fortunately it did.

“Damn it,” Regina yelled when Emma reared back with a guilty look on her face as well as evidence of the older woman’s arousal.

“Oh my god,” David exclaimed and immediately looked up at the ceiling as he turned away.

“That’s what _I_ should be saying,” Regina bitterly said.

“How long have you been standing there,” Emma loudly asked. The tone of her voice told David she really wanted to know, but was also afraid of the answer.

“How long have you been _going down_ on Regina?!”

“How long has she done that tonight or how often does she do it,” Regina asked and, even though he couldn’t see her, he heard the grin in her tone of voice.

“Stop it,” Emma weakly admonished her.

“Oh my god,” he said, quieter than before as he closed his eyes and put his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes and decided to turn around and face them again.

That was his second mistake.

When he turned, Regina’s dress was back in place and Emma looked cleaned up from what he could tell. But he couldn’t tell much since Regina had Emma pulled close as they kissed. It wasn’t as bad as walking in on his daughter eating out the former Evil Queen, but he was still in shock. Any touching was too much touching for him to handle.

“You owe me an orgasm,” Regina said when they separated.

“Later,” Emma quietly answered, most likely so he didn’t have to know what would go on once they were alone again. He still heard her response anyway.

“So…I guess I was right,” he blurted out, at a loss for any other words. “This is about more than leftovers.”

Regina chuckled and stepped toward him. Emma immediately got nervous and put a hand on her arm as if to hold her back. The brunette barely acknowledged the warning and went ahead with her response. “What can I say, nothing beats fresh apple pie.”

“Regina,” his daughter tensely said.

The brunette continued to grin and added, “Enjoy that, because your daughter certainly did” before she disappeared in her signature dark purple smoke.

Emma closed her eyes for a moment before she looked from the space Regina previously occupied to him. “You needed something?”

It took him a few seconds to remember why he was there before he replied, “Yeah, uh, Neal left his favorite toy here. Have you seen it?”

Emma cleared her throat and nodded. She walked toward the doorway to office where he stood and slipped past him on her way to the large cabinet against the wall in the bullpen. She opened it up and bent over to grab something near the bottom shelf. She retrieved the toy he was looking for and closed the cabinet before she held it out as she walked back toward him.

“Thanks,” he said as he took the toy from her.

“Neal couldn’t live without it for even one night,” Emma awkwardly asked. She fidgeted in place as she nervously stuffed her hands into her back pockets.

“He didn’t last twenty minutes,” he said.

Emma nodded again, seemingly as a way to convey she’d heard him since it was her only reaction to his words.

“Should we,” he slowly started to ask, “talk about—?” 

Emma cut him off and said, “I should probably finish up here and go home. And you should get that to Neal.”

“Emma—”

“You can tell Mom that Regina and I are together, but let us be the ones to tell Henry, okay?”

“He doesn’t know?”

She gave him a pointed look before she explained, “We’ve been keeping it quiet.”

“Not quiet enough,” he mumbled, but by the look on Emma’s face it was clear she’d still heard him. Oh well. That just meant they were even.

“Don’t forget that I walked in on you and Mom. And _Henry_ was there, too.”

He stuttered, but never said a single word. He cleared his throat when he was finally able to close his mouth and told her, “I’ll wait until you tell Henry before I mention anything to anyone else.”

Emma softened a little a moment before she said, “Thank you.”

“You know I’m happy if you’re happy, right?”

She nodded, but didn’t verbally respond.

“You _are_ happy, aren’t you,” he asked.

 She smiled, bright and warm. It was a good enough confirmation for him, but Emma decided to use her words that time and said, “Yeah, Dad. I’m happy.”

He smiled back at her. “Good. Uh, I’d hug you, but…”

“Rain check,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice, her smile still present. “Some other time after I’ve showered.”

“Yes,” he breathed out with relief. “That’d be great.”

Emma laughed then. “Go hug Mom. And give Neal a kiss from his big sister.”

“I will, but I’m sure you’ll be able to do both those things yourself soon enough. As soon as your mother knows, we’re having a family dinner. All six of us.”

Emma winced and, without thinking, said, “I’m gonna owe Regina more than _one_ orgasm for that.”

“Oh my god,” he groaned.

His daughter nervously laughed and jogged back into the office. “Sorry,” she said as she gathered her things. “Um, you know, maybe _you_ should lock up tonight.”

She handed him the station keys and smiled at him like she hadn’t just gotten away with something—something juvenile like writing “tramp” on Mary Margaret’s car—and dashed out of the sheriff’s station, inevitably to finish what she’d started with Regina.

He sighed and glanced around the room in a once-over inspection. It didn’t take long before he spotted the leftovers Regina brought that night. They sat in a container on one of the desks in the bullpen, untouched.


	5. Green vs. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March 21: Is there a jealous one?

Regina sat at a booth with Robin, the two of them cozied up and holding hands. Emma grimaced and faced forward again on the stool she occupied. She lifted her beer bottle to her lips and tipped it back to gulp down a long swig. She wasn’t drunk and wasn’t even close, but drinking gave her something to do and helped quiet her unpleasant thoughts.

“Careful, Savior,” she heard a recognizable voice say as they walked behind her and took the stool next to her, both of them just a turn of the head away from seeing Regina.

Emma turned to the woman seated next to her and saw wild blue eyes, a wicked smirk and curly red hair. She glared at Zelena, but it didn’t keep the other woman from finishing what she had to say.

“You’re starting to look a bit green,” Zelena gleefully said. “Now, Robin’s not much of anything, really. He’s really actually quite boring. So, it’s not Regina you’re jealous of, which means…”

Zelena trailed off for a moment as her eyes glittered with twisted delight. Emma tightened her grip on the bottle and clenched her jaw.

“You have feelings for her,” Zelena said and then laughed. “I don’t see why you’d feel anything for _her_ either. She’s not nearly as pretty or powerful.”

“What, compared to you?”

“Well,” Zelena replied with a smirk and held up her arms in a pose that would prompt someone to check that person out. Anything ese that could be said went unsaid.

“I have no problem being rude to you, but I understand what it’s like to be unwanted. So, I’m not going to say anything that might hurt you or make you angry, unless you come after me or my family again. But I will say this, Regina deserves happiness. She’s been through plenty of crap, despite you thinking she’s had it all.”

Zelena rolled her eyes and pouted. “How _Charming_ of you. A real white knight,” Zelena dryly said.

“It’s not like that,” Emma replied before she took another sip of her beer.

“Of course it’s not,” Zelena responded, sarcastic as ever.

“She doesn’t need saving. She can take care of herself.”

“But you protect her anyway. And she protects you.”

Emma sighed. “We’re friends. Friends look out for each other.”

“If you’re lying to me because you don’t want me to know the truth about how you feel about my sister, there’s no need. I’ve already figured you out. But if you’re lying to yourself because you think denying it will make things easier, it’s not. Never has, never will.”

“And what would you know,” Emma asked as she looked up at Zelena and saw the redhead’s attention directed to something over Emma’s shoulder, most likely focused on Regina and Robin.

Zelena looked at Emma and answered, “Because it’s more complicated than that. It always is.”

Emma furrowed her brow and she set down her beer. She turned her body toward Zelena a little more as she tried to understand what exactly the other woman was getting at with her cryptic responses. But trying to figure Zelena out only led to more confusion.

Zelena flashed her a brief grin and said, “You’re welcome.”

Before Emma had a chance to ask what the hell for, the redhead leaned in and kissed her. She felt a swipe of a tongue and immediately pushed the other woman back.

“What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?”

The enraged question surprisingly didn’t come from Emma, although she had every right to be pissed. Emma looked over her shoulder and saw Regina with sharp, angry brown eyes set on Zelena.

“Nothing that should bother you,” Zelena said as she looked past Regina at Robin while the man cautiously approached with that pained look on his face, the expression he wore often that Emma supposed was a look of concern. It looked like gastro intestinal issues instead.

Regina looked back at Robin and as she turned toward Emma and Zelena, she pursed her lips and sighed through her nose. “I don’t like or trust you,” Regina told her sister. “ _Everything_ you do bothers me, especially when it involves my son’s family.”

“You mean, _your_ family,” Zelena corrected.

Zelena reached out and ran her fingers through Emma’s hair while she continued to stare at Regina, victorious. Emma slid off her stool and shrugged off Zelena’s touch.

“Are you two… Are you _seeing_ her,” Regina asked and pointed at Zelena.

“What? You really think-?” Emma didn’t finish her question. She looked between the group, from Regina to Zelena to Robin and then gently grabbed Regina’s arm. “Can we talk?”

Regina resisted Emma’s touch, so Emma let go. “Fine,” Regina agreed to the offer. The brunette glared daggers at Zelena as she and Emma made their way to the back hallway between the diner and the bedrooms. “You know,” Regina started to speak when they were alone. “I think we’ve been here before. In fact, we were _exactly_ here before and talking about my sister then, too. How? How could you- After everything she’s done?”

Emma was ready to argue that she wasn’t actually with Zelena in any way, but Regina’s last question was something Emma couldn’t ignore.

“Okay, you’ve done a lot of awful things, too,” Emma said.

“You’re _defending_ her? I’ve done terrible things, yes. But I never hurt or threatened Henry. Not like she’s hurt him. And I’m reformed. That should at least give me a little more credit than her.”

“Credit for what? Why would you care if I’m with her? You’ve got Robin. She hasn’t done anything to harm you or any of us in a while.”

“She’s probably just using you to get to me.”

“Why would she use me,” Emma asked, her confusion and curiosity keeping her from denying she and Zelena were even a couple.

“I just told you,” Regina huffed.

“No, I mean, why _me_? Why wouldn’t she try to seduce Robin or something?”

“I—” Regina hesitated and seemed to choose her words carefully. “B-Because of Henry. He connects us in a way I’m not bound to Robin.”

Emma shook her head. “That’s not it.”

“Why should it matter? You’re sleeping with my sister!”

“I’m not,” she yelled back. “She kissed me. Right now. That’s it. That’s all that happened.”

Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Why do you care so much whether or not I’m with her?”

“Because she’s not good enough for you.” Regina appeared to regret the words as soon as they left her mouth.

“And…who exactly _would_ be good enough for me?”

“Certainly not that _pirate_ you hang around,” Regina spat out, with extra emphasis on the word pirate. “And neither of them are people I want around our son.”

“I don’t get to tell you who to see, so you don’t get to tell me.”

Regina furrowed her brow. “Robin is a good man. He’s also a father. He would be a good influence on Henry, unlike _Hook_. And _Zelena_.” There was more disdain in the way Regina stressed the redhead’s name than there was when she said Hook.

Emma sighed, frustrated.

“Yeah, well, if he’s so great, why is Roland never with him? At least…not when Robin’s with you.”

That seemed to hurt Regina and hit her like a strong blast of magic.

“Damn it,” Emma said and looked away for a second. “I’m sorry. See, this is the kind of thing we don’t get to say to each other unless the person we’re dating is a sociopath or something.”

“Like my sister,” Regina rhetorically asked with a growl.

“I’m not dating your sister! I’m not sleeping with her, I’m not _thinking_ about kissing her or dating her or anything else. But…”

“But?”

“But…I think about all those things when- when I’m thinking about you.” She took a deep breath as she said it and took a step back, away from Regina.

The brunette looked stunned. Regina stood with her eyes wide and mouth open, but after a moment when Emma finally tried to leave without saying anything more, Regina didn’t let her shock silence her any longer.

“Wait,” Regina called out as she grabbed Emma’s arm and stopped her.

Emma opened her mouth and tried to apologize, but she was cut off before she began by a pair of soft lips as they crashed against her own. Regina kissed, was kissing her again and again and again. It took Emma far too long to realize what was happing, but when she did she responded to the kiss with equal feeling.

She placed a hand on Regina’s lower back and threaded her fingers in silky, brunette hair. Within a few second, Emma pressed Regina up against the wall.

Regina let out a soft sound like a whimper when she came into contact with the wall.

“A _thank you_ would be nice,” Zelena loudly said, even though she stood in the entryway right next to them.

Emma tore herself away from Regina in an instant and both women looked to see Zelena. Robin was just behind her. Emma glared at the redhead, furious about the sort of clitoral inference that had occurred.

Regina stepped away to have a private conversation with Robin and Emma was stuck staring Zelena down until Regina returned. If Regina wanted to come back to her at all.

“What,” Zelena shrugged as she asked the question. “I’m still waiting on my thank you.”

“You want me to thank you for interrupting my first kiss with Regina?”

Zelena rolled her eyes. “Say what you want about the green monster or whatever, but jealousy is what got you and Regina to admit your feelings for each other. Or…well, at least it got you to acknowledge them. By the looks of it, I’d say there wasn’t much talking between the two of you.”

Zelena giggled and looked over her shoulder at Regina and Robin. Emma followed Zelena’s gaze and watched Robin leave the diner with a sad look on his face. Regina looked a little sad, too, but Emma hoped it wasn’t because she wished Robin had stayed with her. It wasn’t until Regina walked back over to her and Zelena that Emma learned that definitely wasn’t the case.

“Why didn’t you say anything,” Regina asked her and completely disregarded Zelena.

“Me? What the hell was that kiss? _You_ clearly could have said something.”

Zelena groaned and stepped in. “Honestly, can you two just get on with it? You like each other. Who cares about the rest? Again, _you’re welcome_.”

Zelena disappeared in her green smoke a second later.

“I guess she didn’t want that thank you that badly after all,” Emma said.

“After what she’s done, let’s call her and I almost even,” Regina said. “Now shut up and kiss me.”

Emma smiled and kissed her as instructed. She would always give Regina what she wanted if it meant Regina would be happy.


	6. Double Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March 26: How do they deal with Henry dating (if it he does)? If he doesn't, how do they deal with him not dating?

As the movie played in the dark theater, Emma’s focus stayed on the screen. Every so often, she looked over at Regina and it always cracked her up because the brunette’s eyes were never on the movie.

“Stare any harder and I swear you’ll burn a hole in the back of that sweet girl’s head,” Emma whispered to her with a large smile on her face.

“I can do a lot of things, but not that,” Regina quietly replied.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “Stop worrying so much. He’s fine.”

“If she does anything to hurt him, I swear—”

“Regina,” she said with a firm tone and placed a hand on the other woman’s knee. Finally, the brunette looked away from the kids and then locked eyes with her. “If he gets hurt, we’ll be there for him. But you have to stop thinking the worst is gonna happen.  Just let them be. We shouldn’t even be here.”

“Well, if you think that then why _are_ you here?”

“To keep you from doing something rash,” Emma answered.

Someone nearby shushed them. Regina didn’t pay them any attention as she looked back at Henry and his date, but Emma looked around through the dark and squinted at whoever had tried to shut her up.

“He’s my little prince,” Regina explained. “I just want him to be safe.”

“And happy?”

Regina looked at her again before she agreed. “And happy.”

“Look at him,” Emma said then and motioned to Henry where he sat several rows ahead of them. “I’d say he’s happy. And so far nothing bad has happened to him. He’s just sitting here watching a movie with a pretty girl he likes. Like I am.”

Regina whipped her head to the side to look at her, her eyes wide and shock evident on her face.

Emma beamed at her and quietly laughed as she leaned closer to the other woman. “Just sit back and enjoy this overly cheesy romantic comedy with me.”

“Is this a- a date,” Regina asked. “Did you hijack our son’s date to have a first one with me?”

“I didn’t really hijack anything,” Emma said before she looked down at Henry.

She felt Regina shift beside her, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Regina was looking at him as well.

“I asked him if it would be okay,” Emma added.

“You did?”

“Yeah,” Emma replied just before Henry turned around and looked toward the back of the theater.

“And…what did she say?”

After a few seconds, Henry finally spotted them and smiled. He waved at them and Emma smiled and waved back. A moment later, Henry turned back around and said something to his date before he pulled out his phone and started to type.

Emma looked at Regina and continued to smile. Before she could answer the brunette’s question, her phone vibrated and she retracted the hand she had on Regina’s knee. She apologized as she pulled the phone out of her pocket, but smiled again when she read the text she’d just received from Henry.

“Take a look for yourself,” Emma said and handed her phone to Regina.

Regina squinted at the screen, but relaxed a little once she seemed able to read the message, which asked, “ _How’s it going up there?”_

“Regina?”

Regina started to type out a reply to Henry and then handed the phone back while she responded, “Shh. I’m trying to enjoy a movie with a pretty girl.”

Emma bit her lip as she smiled yet again and then looked down at the messages displayed on her phone.

 _How’s it going up there_?

**Call it another successful operation.**

Emma put her phone away and leaned in toward Regina again. That time she draped an arm around the brunette’s shoulder and pulled her a little closer. “For our next date maybe you can teach me how to cook,” she suggested.

“Maybe I’ll just cook _for_ you. I don’t trust your listening skills, Miss Swan. You’ll burn down my entire kitchen before you can even so much as crack an egg.”

“You taught me magic, didn’t you,” Emma rhetorically asked. “I can be a good student when I want to be.”

“Can you?”

“Mhmm.”

“Prove it.”

“How?”

Regina smirked at her and said, “Kiss me.”

Emma’s expression brightened once more before she moved in and did exactly what she was told.


	7. Happy Now (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Do they ever break up? Why? Do they get back together? How long does that take? Does anyone need to intervene?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst warning, but but there will be a continuation of this for another prompt that fixes some things and answers some questions. :)

Déjà vu hit her like a ton of bricks as she slowly approached the house. It felt just like her second day in Storybrooke all over again, except a lot more had happened between her and Regina since then. A lot of hurt and anger and a few differences. Things had been rocky before it got worse and it hadn't helped that they'd been forced to spend an entire year apart in completely different realms just as they'd been at their best.

She took a deep breath in and heavily exhaled. Her shoulders dropped like weights with the action and stepped toward the door. With a bowed head and tightly gripped fist, she knocked and closed her eyes as she waited. When the door opened, her heart squeezed with uncontrollable pain. It happened every time she was around Regina, but that time she wasn't near the brunette. Instead, _he_ had answered the door.

Roland laughed loudly in the background while Henry seemed to chase him around the house, but it was hard to tell with Robin standing in the doorway. He smiled at her like everything was fine, like there were no hard feelings between the two of them. Every time she saw that smile, she wanted to punch him in the face. But she couldn't. He didn't know her history with Regina and Regina clearly never wanted him to, so Robin smiled and welcomed her inside.

"No, thanks. I just came for Henry," she said and took a few steps back. She needed more distance from him than the porch could provide, but she wasn’t going to run away. He wasn't a good enough reason for her to run. He wasn't good enough. Period.

"Henry," Robin called out over his shoulder. "Emma's here!"

There were a few hard and rushed footsteps, and a few more giggles from Roland, before Henry appeared behind Robin in the foyer. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him as he gave Henry a squeeze.

Emma glared at him. She only felt guilty about it when she realized Henry had seen her reaction and then immediately shrugged away from Robin.

"Um, my stuff's upstairs," Henry told her. "I'll be back in a minute."

Emma forced a smile and nodded before she watched him hurry up the staircase. She looked over her shoulder down the pathway and stared at her car where it sat, parked at the curb just outside the gate that she purposely left open for a quick escape.

"Daddy," Roland exclaimed.

Emma's focus was pulled back to the inside of the house and she watched as Roland leapt into Robin's arms. Robin's smile spread wider across his face as he hugged his son to his chest and then adjusted Roland's position so the boy sat more on Robin's hip. It was the picture perfect family. Two kids and a happy couple in a nice home. It looked like a fairytale happy ending. It was all Emma had dreamed of having when she was Roland's age. It was all Emma had hated that she didn't, and though she never would have, when she was Henry's age. And when she thought she was close to having it as an adult, everything fell apart.

The all too familiar click-clack of heels approached from another room and it wasn't long before Regina walked up to the door and took her place at Robin's side. Roland smiled at her and called out her name before he launched himself at her without any real warning.

Regina caught him in a hug before Robin handed him off to her. It was a truly picture perfect moment and Emma was mature enough to admit that she was bitter about it. What had happened between them wasn't all Regina's fault, but that didn't make seeing her playing happy family with some guy any less painful.

"Kisses," Roland said before he demonstrated by kissing Regina's cheek.

Regina chuckled and said, "Besos" before she then kissed Roland's cheek. The smile she'd directed at Roland, and Robin before that, vanished as soon as she locked eyes with Emma.

Despite the part of Emma that wanted to look away almost instantly, she held Regina's gaze. Neither of them looked happy and Regina actually looked pissed that Emma had even bothered to show up.

"Regina," she quietly greeted with a neutral tone.

"Have him back by Wednesday. Early enough for dinner," Regina coldly replied.

Emma felt a sharp stab to the heart. Everyone else saw the much softer side of Regina while she was with Robin, but Emma was the only one to get the Evil Queen. They didn't have to be enemies, but they'd long since been friends in the last three months.

"Yeah, I know the schedule. It's on my fridge and my phone. You can't even trust me to be a good parent? Even after everything—?" Emma didn't finish her question. She glanced at Robin just before she looked away and stuffed her hands further into her pockets.

It had been only a few months since Hook had brought her and Henry back from New York, but the way things between her and Regina had abruptly ended before they'd ever really begun made it seem like a lifetime ago.

"Okay, Mom. I'm ready," Henry said a little breathlessly as he ran down the stairs with his backpack and a large overnight bag slung over his shoulders. He wedged himself between Robin and Regina and said, "Bye, Mom. See you later."

"I love you," Regina told him.

Henry leaned in and hugged her and Roland, who was still in Regina's arms, before he replied, "Love you, too. Bye, Robin."

"See you, Henry," Robin happily said and waved goodbye.

Henry waved back, but hurried away from the house and gave Emma a reason to do the same. She quickened her pace to catch up to him and even called out for him to slow down before they reached the Bug. He opened the passenger door and pulled down the seat so he could toss his stuff in the back.

She put a hand on his upper back and gave him an apologetic look when he turned and acknowledged her. "Hey, you know you don't have to hate him just because I do, right?"

Henry swallowed and sadly looked down at the ground. "Yeah," he said so softly that Emma almost didn't hear him. "I know."

Emma sighed. "I'm really sorry. I know this is difficult, especially for you."

"What happened," he asked and looked up at her with sad but hopeful eyes.

She frowned and tried not to cry. Henry had asked her that question many times after things had ended. She wanted to be truthful, but she didn't want to put him in the middle. She never told him the full story and the fact that he still continued to ask meant Regina hadn't shared much with him either.

"It's not important."

"Yes, it is," he insisted. "I thought after New York things would be easier. You two were friends. And now you're not. Did you do something? Did she say something mean to you? Tell me what happened and maybe we can fix it?"

Emma squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head to her chest as she swallowed the lump in her throat and fought back tears. She bent at the waist just the slightest bit to be at eye-level with him before she put her hands on his shoulders and explained what little she could share. "We had a fight, Henry. But it's not your fault and it's not your problem, so don't worry about fixing anything. Just worry about being you."

He shook his head. "It shouldn't be like this. We should be a family."

Emma gasped as she tried to form words and instead only managed to feel like she'd been kicked in the gut. She wasn't sure Henry meant 'family' in the same way Emma did, but it still hurt to hear that Henry was being denied something Emma had craved more than anything as well.

"Do you like Robin," she asked.

"I—"

"And don't say what you think I want to hear. Just be honest with me. Do you like him?"

Henry grimaced before he admitted, "Yeah. He's okay. He's not mean or anything, but I don't really feel a connection with him. I guess I don't mind him, but I don't think I really have an opinion on whether or not he should stick around. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

Emma chuckled and let go of his shoulders as she stood at full height. "It makes sense. But...he's not a bad guy, right?"

"Right."

"And you get along with him and Roland."

"Yeah."

"And your Mom is happy?"

Henry pursed his lips and seemed to think about his answer for a moment. "I don’t know," he said. "It's hard to tell. She smiles a lot and seems close to Robin and Roland, but sometimes...sometimes I wonder if she's faking it or if maybe she's comfortable, but not happy."

Emma sighed again and grabbed one of his shoulders before she gently shook it. "Come on. Let's go back to the apartment. Grandma and Grandpa are making one of your favorite dinners and they can't wait to see you."

"Grandma just saw me at school yesterday," he replied with a furrowed brow.

Emma laughed as she walked around the front of her car. "Yeah, they miss me even when I run out to the store for a few minutes. Get used to it."

Henry slid into the passenger's seat as Emma yanked open her door. When Henry shut his, Emma looked over the top of the Bug and saw that Regina stood alone in the doorway. Emma wasn't sure if Regina was staring at her or the car or Henry, but they looked in each other's direction for another moment before Regina finally turned away and shut the door.

Emma stared for a little while longer as she felt a sense of loneliness creep up inside her once again, something that usually happened after every brief visit with Regina.

"Mom?"

Emma snapped herself out of her trance and slid into the car at the sound of Henry's voice. She faked another smile at him, which he immediately saw right through, and then started the Bug.

"Whatever happened between the two of you," Henry started to say as they started to drive toward the loft, "I hope you're happy. Both of you."

Emma's knuckled turned white with the force she used to grip the steering wheel just to keep her emotions under control. Happiness was a fleeting thing and for the last three months, it had been non-existent.

" _Are_ you happy," he asked.

Emma slowly exhaled and tried to relax her hands on the wheel before she said, "Not yet."

"Well, what would it take to make you happy?"

"Right now? I don't know. Probably a miracle."


	8. Happy Now (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March 24: Which ridiculous trope is the one they wind up in? (Body swap, accidental marriage, act of true love, trapped in an elevator...sex pollen?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done truth serum before, but I thought it would work best given the circumstances of the first part of this mini fic. Hopefully it worked as well as I thought it might.
> 
> Also, I realize this is a day past the cut off, but I just couldn’t get this part finished after work last night. I also have more prompts I have ideas for that I haven’t gotten a chance to do or finish, but I might just post those on my own considering they’d all be posted after the deadline.

"Are you sure it'll work," he asked as his grandmother filled a vile with a pinkish-red liquid that turned clear once she swirled it around for a moment.

"I did exactly what the book said. I might not have magic, but this is more like a science anyway," Mary Margaret replied, her focus solely on the liquid for another moment.

"Are you any good at science,” Henry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mary Margaret gave him an unamused look before she said, “You look way too much like your mother.”

Henry proudly smiled and held his head high. “I think that’s a good thing,” he confessed.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes with a smile before she shook her head and changed the subject. “Let’s just get this to _both_ your mothers and hope it does them some much needed good.”

Henry smiled and nodded as the two of them made their way to the first, and hopefully easiest, target.

* * *

Emma sat in the Bug for a few minutes after she’d cut the engine. She sipped the rest of her water until the half-empty bottle was finally finished while she stared at Town Hall like it was the entrance to hell. After the argument she had with Regina on Wednesday when she brought Henry to the house with a nearly full stomach after Regina had spent the last few hours after a long day at work making lasagna specifically for him, Town Hall _was_ hell. There was a mandatory, hour long meeting for all city officials that was about to happen, which she’d been dreading since the last meeting. She’d tried to get David to go in her place, but he’d insisted that, because she wanted to keep the title of Sheriff, she was responsible for attending. She almost gave the badge back and demoted herself, but being the boss there made her feel useful and good and needed. To be a deputy like her father meant she was second best to the prince of the townspeople. She was just their daughter, the Savior. Nothing more, nothing less.

She took a deep breath and finally got out of the car. Almost as soon as her foot hit the pavement, she felt a tingling sensation that caused her to sway for a moment. She frowned and her furrowed her brow before she straightened up and held still for a few seconds. She shook her head when the rush disappeared and didn’t think too much about what had happened. She’d only had the one water bottle for the day. She was probably just dehydrated.

She was worried and angry about seeing Regina, which normally would have prompted her to slam the car door shut, but she was gentle with it that time. She didn’t let her feelings control her actions; something she was sure would happen anyway as soon as she stepped into the conference room in a few minutes. She clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides as she approached the yellow building and slipped into a mask of calm and neutrality before she stepped inside.

The mask threatened to break the instant she saw Regina at the head of the room. She flipped through some notes, her attention drawn to the binder set out in front of her on the table, while others started to file into the room a few at a time. Emma barely noticed anyone else as they all talked to each other, exchanged hellos and caught up as they waited for the meeting to start. She took one of the seats closest to her and kept her eyes on Regina the entire time. She paid close attention to the dreamcatcher earrings the brunette wore with the stunning black dress that hugged every curve. It was simple yet elegant and could easily pass as both business attire and evening wear. The dress was one Regina hadn’t worn in front of her before, but Emma vaguely remembered seeing it—or at least something like it—in the other woman’s closet when she went in to grab a pair of heels for Regina before work.

Emma was speechless.

Regina’s hair was a little longer then and less straight. It seemed the brunette wanted a more natural look and allowed her hair to curl in many places, but still looked tame. It reminded Emma of the way Regina looked in the morning after she’d spent the night sleeping on her wet hair caused by an evening shower, except her hair was a bit unruly in those moments. The truth was, her hair looked more natural and her skin seemed to glow with new life. All that was missing was a content smile on her face and a little less eye makeup and Emma would know she’d lost Regina forever.

As if the other woman had the ability to read thoughts, Regina looked up at her and the two of them met each other’s gaze across the room. Emma’s heart beat faster and her lips parted as her jaw slackened. Regina was as breathtaking as ever, even as her eyes gradually began to narrow with disdain or whatever acidic emotion Regina felt toward her in that moment. Once Regina pursed her lips and looked back down at the binder, Emma gulped and looked around the room at the people who surrounded her. She watched them quiet down and settle into their chairs as she heard Regina call the meeting to order and announce the first item on the docket.

As far as boring town business went, the meeting was as cut and dry as ever. Everyone stated their concerns and some offered help and suggestions for problems that needed to be addressed quickly. There were no glares or raised voices or disagreements. No personal matters were discussed and everyone seemed to finally learn how to stop themselves from staring too long and too hard at both Emma and Regina, especially when neither of them had been talking. The first two meetings after the breakup had been rough in that regard.

It had been the talk of the town how the Savior and former Evil Queen went from close friends to frigid enemies. None of them had known the extent of what had happened, but everyone knew something had changed. It was a small town. People talked and it was hard to escape prying eyes. Plus, their fight wasn’t exactly quiet. When she and Regina fought, it was like shouting in a quiet, unmoving elevator.

Before Emma knew it, people started to clear out and the only ones left were her and Regina. It was the first time they’d been alone in weeks. She had no idea what to say or why she wasn’t hightailing it out of the room since she was no longer obligated to be there. The more she continued to stare at Regina, however, the quicker words rushed to the surface before suddenly they poured out of her.

“You look beautiful.” Her eyes popped wide open as she realized she’d spoken thoughts she’d never meant for Regina to hear while there was still so much tension between them. It was a compliment, but she was sure Regina didn’t want to hear it from her of all people.

Somehow both her mind and her mouth had betrayed her in a single, embarrassing moment. The funny thing was that her legs still didn’t seem to move, or even want to move. It was like she was paralyzed. Whether it was by Regina or herself or some unseen force, she was rooted to her spot in the room.

Regina stilled her movements. She was in the middle of packing up her things, but she froze when Emma spoke. After a brief pause, she slowly started to continue gathering her belongings and almost walked off without even looking at Emma. Almost.

Regina stopped herself just before she was able to reach the door and turned to Emma. She had a tense jaw, clenched teeth and fiery, dark eyes. “You don’t have the right to say things like that to me,” the brunette said. “Not anymore.”

Emma sighed and curled into herself as she nodded her agreement and mumbled, “I know.”

“Don’t stand there and look like a kicked puppy,” Regina started to raise her voice. “I hate it when you do that. As if _I’m_ the big, bad villain again.”

Emma tensed her shoulders and pursed her lips. She looked up with a hard look directed at Regina and said, “I’m not trying to make you look, or feel, like the villain. I know it’s not all on you, but you didn’t want to talk about it. You didn’t want to hear what I had to say. You didn’t want to know—”

She cut herself off and looked away. Regina hadn’t wanted to know before, but _Emma_ didn’t want Regina to know now. Unfortunately, she felt the words build up inside her and push at her insides in their insistence to be said. The words were a truth that brought back painful memories.

“What didn’t I want to know? That you’d been keeping Hook around in case you needed a _beard_. That’s what they’re called, right? Because being with me wasn’t enough. You needed a man to prove you were normal and everything your insipid parents wanted for a daughter.”

“Being with you was _everything_ ,” Emma loudly confessed. “And you’re the one to talk, Regina. You screwed the first guy you saw after _you_ said it was over. It didn’t take very long for you to move on, did it?”

“Because _you_ slept with Hook when we were still together!”

“No,” she yelled and immediately turned away from Regina. Within seconds, she shook with tears as the images of Regina sleeping with Robin while Emma was still reeling from the breakup played over and over in her head.

“No?”

She sniffled and pressed a hand to her stomach as she struggled to hold it all in. She wiped at the few tears that had escaped before she turned around and looked at Regina with sad, wet eyes.

“Emma,” Regina said with a tone that gently urged her to open up.

“No. I never did,” she said with a shaky voice.

“Never did what?”

“I never slept with Hook. You thought- You never wanted to _know_. You just assumed I had because he was…awful and inappropriate. I kissed him in Neverland and I had to revive him when Zelena was a problem, but that was it. The first time was gratitude and the second time it was because I didn’t want his death, or anyone else’s, on my hands.”

“You…you never—”

Emma felt her lips tremble and she sniffled again as she looked down and crossed her arms over her chest. She hugged herself tightly and took a few deep breaths to prevent more tears from coming.

“All this time…” Regina trailed off. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t want to know. You wouldn’t listen. I tried to explain, but—”

“Damn it, Emma! You should have shouted it from the rooftop or pounded on my door every single night and made me understand.”

“Why? Would it really have changed anything? You still figured it out. You were right. Hook was my beard. He wasn’t exactly someone I thought my parents would approve of, but he’s…”

“A man and most definitely _not_ the Evil Queen.”

Emma closed her eyes and exhaled. “You know I’ve never thought of you like that. I mean, you were a twisted bitch when we first met, but after everything we’ve been through…you’re just Regina to me. You’re so much more than a vengeful queen.”

Regina scoffed, but there was a hint of amusement in her tone when she asked, “You think I’m a vengeful queen at all?”

“Well, yeah, but…I kind of like that about you,” she admitted with a small smile as she slowly started to close the distance between them. “Your lips twitch and you get this look. Your eyes shoot daggers and that vein on your forehead pops out.”

Regina’s eyes widened and instinctively she touched her forehead.

Emma chuckled, but looked away a second later. “I used to kiss it when you fell asleep.”

Regina blinked a few times and slowly her shock wore off as she dropped her hand to her side.

“I don’t know why I’m being so honest with you,” Emma said.

“I-I’m glad you are.”

Emma stared at her, wide-eyed and wondering.

Regina closed a little bit of space between them and caressed Emma’s cheek. “He’s not you. He’s blond and, sort of, charming like you, but he’s not you.”

Emma let out a watery laugh and said, “I know what you mean.”

“Of course you do. Captain Guyliner is the dirtier, penis-having version of me,” Regina said with a smirk.

Emma rolled her eyes, but cleared her throat after a moment and tried to collect herself. “So…what does this mean? For us?”

Regina closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. I guess that all depends.”

“On what,” Emma quietly asked, fearful of the answer.

“On whether or not you’re willing to tell your parents we’re together…and whether or not you can forgive me.”

Emma licked her lips and her eyes wandered from Regina’s gaze to her mouth. She took a step forward and Regina adjusted the hand on her cheek. Regina then swiped her thumb over her cheekbone a few times before she did what Emma wanted to do.

Regina leaned in and kissed her. Emma met her a little less than halfway, but responded to the kiss with equal measure as the brunette.

“Dinner. Tonight,” Emma said. “Bring Henry to the loft and eat with us. I’ll tell all of them. Henry and my parents. I’ll tell them at dinner.”

“I- Tonight?”

“What?” Emma asked with a frown.

Regina searched her eyes with a bit of worry before she answered, “It’s just…really soon. Robin and Roland…they live with me. I can’t just…kick them out without notice. They don’t deserve that.”

Emma nodded. “You’re right. Um, but maybe you could still do dinner? Or…should we wait until—”

“No. No waiting. I’ll make you a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Not a bad one. Not like the ones Rumple makes.”

“Okay. What’s the deal?”

“Let me talk to Robin and Roland before we do anything.”

“Well, we already kissed. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“Anything _else_. I promise we’ll have dinner with your parents, but I need a little time. I’m going to have to explain things to Robin, and Roland is probably going to be so confused.”

“I get it. Do whatever it is you need to do and maybe you can send a text or give me a sign when everything’s all good and you’re ready to start again.”

Regina flashed her a sad smile and kissed her again. “I’m in, Emma. The time I need isn’t for me. It’s for Robin. It’s to explain things. It’s not going to make anything easier, but it’s what should be done.”

Emma nodded again.

“Believe me when I say I never wanted to leave you,” Regina confessed.

“But you did.”

“I did. It hurt. You not telling your parents made me feel like I was always going to be who I was. To them, but most importantly to _you_. I wanted you to see me—”

“As Regina. As who you are. As _everything_ you are. Yeah, you’re not the Evil Queen anymore, but that’s a part of your life. It’s a part of your story. But being the Evil Queen sometimes means fierce protectiveness of the things you love most and that’s incredible to see, to _feel_. Especially for someone like me, who didn’t always have someone looking out for them.

“I just…I want you to know that. I may not have handled things right, but I want you to know I have _always_ appreciated every part of you. I still do.”

Regina smiled, a genuine and glowing smile that time, and rested her forehead against Emma’s. “I hate you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you made me love you, and you never did give me a reason to stop.”

* * *

Emma opened the door to see Regina on the other side with a fragile yet open expression on her face. She looked younger, timid. It was as if she wasn’t sure she belonged at the apartment. After two weeks of space for Regina to break it off with Robin and have her own time to deal with that, Regina was there. It was a week that Emma had Henry, so she came alone.

“Hey,” Emma breathed out with a smile, happy to see her and also a little unsure as to how to act.

“Hey,” Regina flashed her own smile in response. The word still sounded awkward coming from the brunette, like it had in Neverland.

“Um, is everything—? Are you okay?”

Regina looked past Emma into the apartment for a moment and Emma furrowed her brow before she was surprised by a sudden, passionate kiss.

Emma hummed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Regina’s waist. She pulled the other woman flat against her before she slid a hand up Regina’s back and tangled it in long, wavy hair.

“Grandma, it worked!”

Both women tensed and pulled away before they turned to see Henry jump off the third stair onto the floor. He was happy for a moment before confusion overtook him.

“It did?” Mary Margaret asked as she hurried around the corner from her bedroom. She beamed at the two of them when she saw how close Emma and Regina stood.

“Uh, I think it worked _too_ well,” Henry said. “They were kissing.”

Mary Margaret exhaled with relief and shook her head as she smiled. “No, it worked perfectly.”

Regina cleared her throat and Emma looked over at her.

“Are you ready,” Regina asked.

Emma took a deep breath and reached for Regina’s hand. She squeezed it and turned to Henry and Mary Margaret before she asked, “I have something to tell you. Where’s Dad?”

“I’m here,” David said as he popped out of the bedroom with Neal in his arms. “What worked? What’s going on?”

Emma licked her lips and squeezed Regina’s hand again before she said, “Regina and I…are together. We _were_ together before, but we…well, it’s a long story. But we’re back together.”

“I’m so happy to hear that,” Mary Margaret said with happy tears in her eyes as she crossed the room and enveloped them both in a group hug.

Emma furrowed her brow as she thought about what her mother and son had said and asked, “Wait, _what_ worked? Did you do something?”

“Nothing that didn’t need to be done,” Mary Margaret replied and pulled away. “It wasn’t harmful to either of you and everything worked out for the best.”

“Grandma, you knew they were _together_ before,” Henry asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Mary Margaret quickly said.

“No. Mom, what did you do,” Emma asked.

“Henry and I gave you truth serum in the hopes you’d talk through your problems, and you did. But like I said, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re all here now.”

“Truth serum?” Regina seemed shocked, but also furious. Her anger wasn’t confronted, but eventually—the longer they all talked—she seemed to cool off.

David still looked a little lost, but he walked closer and smiled after a few seconds.

“I don’t know why you thought you had to hide this from us,” Mary Margaret said.

“You…you knew and you didn’t have a problem with it,” Emma asked.

“Of course not,” Mary Margaret answered. “Why would we have a problem with you and Regina together?”

“You thought we would be bothered by that,” David asked.

“Well, I- Yeah. You guys have a not-so-great history with each other and…she’s…a woman.”

“Oh, honey,” Mary Margaret stepped forward again and pulled Emma into a hug.

“As long as you’re happy, we’re happy,” David told her as he came closer and joined the hug, Neal carefully wedged between all three of them.

“Mom?”

Emma looked over Mary Margaret’s shoulder and watched Henry approach Regina.

“Is this what you want,” he asked the brunette. “Does…being with Mom make you happy?”

Regina smiled at him and said, “Yes, Henry. But if _you_ aren’t happy—”

Henry ran up to her and cut her off as he crashed into her, his arms wrapped tightly around her in a hug. “I’m happy. This is what I wanted. My family.”

Henry met Emma’s gaze over Regina’s shoulder when he said the words “my family.” Emma felt her heart constrict, but in an instant she felt much lighter than she had in months.

“I finally have it,” Emma realized, though she hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

“Have what,” Mary Margaret asked.

Emma looked at Regina and when she had the other woman’s attention, she smiled brighter than she had in such a long time. “My happy ending.”


	9. Hope and Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for the first part of this chapter is: When was the moment Regina realized she was in love? 
> 
> Second part is the prompt: When was the moment Emma realized she was in love?

**Regina**

Seventeen hours. They'd sat in the hospital room for seventeen hours while their son stood by their new daughter-in-law's bedside during labor.

Regina hadn't slept very well that night and as soon as she got the call from Henry that he and his wife were on their way to the hospital, she had no chance of resting until it was all over.

She'd had at least three bad cups of hospital coffee while they waited. She would have had more, but the fleeting caffeine rush wasn't worth the vile taste.

"They're so young," she said to Emma as the blonde finally stopped pacing and took a seat next to her.

Emma had been like that for the last few hours. In and out of her chair to walk back and forth a few times and stretch out her legs. The woman never could sit still for too long.

"They're older than I was when I had Henry," Emma reminded her.

"Not by much."

"Regina," the blonde warningly said her name. "This is a good thing. Our baby is having a baby."

"I didn't even like it when he had girlfriends. Now he's married and having his first child. Where did the time go?"

"It's been time well-spent and you know it, Madam Mayor."

She glared at Emma, who flashed a cheeky grin at her before Regina had even turned her head. Emma rarely ever referred to her by her title, but when she did it was either because she was upset or trying to lighten the mood. The blonde's smile conveyed that Emma was trying to accomplish the latter of the two that time.

"How can you be so easygoing at a time like this?"

"Because one of us has to be level-headed and apparently that isn't going to be you."

"If you're so level-headed why do you keep pacing every so often?"

"I'm restless. Do you have any idea how long we've been here?"

"Of course I know," she snapped at the woman.

Emma raised her hands in surrender and leaned back in her chair to give Regina some space. "You're the one that insisted we stay here no matter how long it took. Henry said he'd call when it's over, but you said we'd be right here waiting."

"We're his mothers, Emma! We _should_ be here." She spoke a little louder than she had intended and a few of the other people nearby turned to look at the two of them.

She sighed and shook her head as she looked down at her lap. She was a wreck. She was anxious and excited and probably a flurry of other emotions she couldn't quite name at the time. She just wanted to see Henry and know that everything was okay. If she just saw Henry's face after it was all over, she would finally be able to relax. Until then, however, Emma was stuck waiting with her while she was in a jumbled, but mostly fowl, mood.

"Everything's going to be fine," Emma tried to assure her.

Before she could respond, she felt Emma rest a hand on hers over the uncomfortable wooden armrest of the chair. Upon contact there was a spark. It felt like static electricity, but it ran deeper than a jolt from one hand to the other. It seemed to awaken her dormant magic, which she hadn't used, or even thought to use, in weeks.

She looked up and gazed into familiar green eyes that were already staring back at her when she was finally able to drag her attention away from their joined hands. For a moment, neither of them said a word. Emma just smiled at her like nothing could or would go wrong, like she knew without a doubt they were going to be alright.

Less than a minute later, the nurse confirmed it for her.

"Mayor Mills? Sheriff?"

They were on their feet in an instant. They moved together, side by side toward the nurse until they were close enough to keep the conversation semi-private.

“Congratulations,” the nurse smiled at them. “You have a granddaughter.”

Relief rushed through Regina and her previously tense shoulders sagged as she was finally able to relax. She smiled and leaned into Emma’s side, seemingly in need of more physical support than she thought.

Emma didn’t hesitate. She wrapped an arm around Regina’s waist and helped her stay on her feet. Regina was sure she would have collapsed if Emma hadn’t been there.

“Can we see them?”

“Yes, of course.”

Emma guided her to the hospital room as they followed the nurse. As soon as they reached the room, Regina sighed and held an arm around her stomach. It was a nervous habit of hers, but in that moment she wasn’t nervous. She just wanted to keep herself from falling apart. Before her, Henry stood bent over the side of the hospital bed with a hand on his daughter and an arm slung around his wife. He smiled brightly at his little girl where she fidgeted and let out a few sounds of discomfort in his wife’s arms.

After all of Regina’s near-death experiences in both in the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke and especially after all that had happened, and could have happened, in Neverland, she never thought she would have been so lucky to see the day her son started his own family.

“He did it,” she said with so much love and adoration.

“Not so young anymore, is he,” Emma teasingly asked a second before she squeezed Regina closer against her side. “ _We_ did that.”

She sniffled and rested her head on Emma’s shoulder. Slowly, she agreed. “Yes, we did.” She closed her eyes a moment later and smiled as contentment washed over her. In that moment she was sure that not only was her happy ending finally written, she was deeply in love with Emma Swan.

“Moms,” Henry called out to them. “Want to meet your granddaughter?”

“Of course we do,” Emma answered. “We’ve waited nine months and seventeen hours for this.”

They walked toward the bed and Regina forced herself to look away from the little girl and their son so she could smile at their daughter-in-law, because she looked exhausted and deserved at least a smile after all she’d gone through. Their daughter-in-law smiled back before she handed the baby to Regina, which the brunette hadn’t expected at all. What surprised her even more was the fact that the little girl quieted down almost as soon as she’d been placed in Regina’s arms.

“Meet Hope,” their daughter-in-law said. “Hope Valentina Swan-Mills.”

She stared down at Hope and felt a tear slide down her cheek before she looked up at Henry. “Mi queridos. Mi familia.” She looked from Henry to their daughter-in-law and down to Hope again before she risked a glance at Emma and added, “My everything.”

* * *

 

**Emma**

“Mom! I can’t get her to stop,” she heard as she slowly started to wake. The voice was tired and frantic and one she recognized, but she hadn’t opened her eyes yet and she really didn’t want to.

“Relax, Henry. It’s okay,” Regina replied over the sound of a crying baby.

She furrowed her brow and shifted on the couch to make herself comfortable enough again to fall back asleep.

“I don’t know what to do,” Henry nearly shouted. He sounded on the verge of tears.

“Shh,” Regina began to coo. Emma wasn’t sure who she was cooing, though. Henry was in a state and the baby continued to wail. Neither seemed happy or able to be calmed, even by Regina’s melodic voice. “Oh, you’re alright. You’re alright.”

Emma took a deep breath and rolled onto her side. After only a few moments, she couldn’t keep her eyes shut any longer and was unfortunately awake. She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and checked the time. It was the middle of the night. Almost 3am.

“We’ve tried everything, Mom,” Henry said. “She won’t stop crying!”

“We’re desperate,” another voice said, also familiar but less so.

“It’s fine. Why don’t you two go upstairs and take the guest room. Try to get some sleep.”

“Not until we know she’s okay,” Henry insisted.

“She’ll be fine. She doesn’t seem to have a fever, so I think she’s just like you. Crying at all hours for no apparent reason, at least not apparent to _us_.”

Henry groaned. “It’s karma, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Regina replied, and Emma could hear the smile in her voice before she even sat up or looked at the three of them. “But at least you have me.”

Emma groaned and cleared her throat as she finally sat up. “And me,” she groggily interjected.

“Ma? Wh- What are you doing here?”

“I _was_ sleeping.”

“On the couch?”

“I fell asleep watching a movie.”

Henry looked from her to Regina, confused as ever. He also didn’t seem all that convinced.

Emma stood up and walked over to the group where they stood in the foyer. She put a hand on the baby’s chest while Regina continued to cradle their darling granddaughter. She smiled down at the upset little girl and tapped her index finger against the baby’s nose.

“Hey,” she quietly said. “What’s going on in that little mind of yours?”

“Is she hungry,” Regina asked.

Henry’s wife, their daughter-in-law, shook her head. “We already tried. She took the bottle for a few seconds, but she pushed it away after that and started screaming.”

Emma leaned in and peppered the baby’s face with kisses even while she cried, her face red and scrunched up. The baby settled down for a few seconds and seemed to catch her breath, but started to cry again. It was a piercing sound that made Emma grimace as the little one cried loudly and directly into her ear. She didn’t pull away, however. She placed a hand on top of Regina’s where she held their granddaughter and then pulled open the blanket the girl was wrapped in. She pushed up the shirt to expose the baby’s stomach and started to blow raspberries against her.

The baby started to calm down again, but Emma assumed it was probably out of confusion and not because she was being soothed.

“What are you doing,” Regina asked with a hint of laughter laced in her tone.

“Distracting her from whatever’s bothering her,” Emma answered between blowing on the baby’s stomach. “Maybe I can do that long enough for us to figure out what’s wrong. It’s worth a shot, right?”

Once she’d stopped giving the baby raspberries, the crying started again. Emma decided to run her fingers along the girl’s stomach instead, a gentle caress that didn’t seem to stop the crying or even register with the baby. She pulled back and started to tickle their granddaughter’s toes through her socks.

“We’ll take care of this,” Regina said to the couple. “Go. Get some rest. She’ll be fine with us.”

“Yeah, Kid. You’ll be better equipped to take care of her when you wake up. Even if you only sleep for another twenty minutes. Just like you’d be better equipped to handle anything after even a little bit of sleep.”

“Mm, because baby’s are just like everything else,” Regina sarcastically said before she swatted Emma’s hand away from the baby’s toes when it only seemed to make her cry more.

“Thanks, Moms,” Henry said before he took his wife’s hand and led her upstairs.

“Thank you,” their daughter-in-law said a little breathlessly and with so much relief.

The two of them made it upstairs before Emma or Regina could respond, but that didn’t matter. Their main focus was the baby.

“Sorry they woke you,” Regina said when they were alone. “If you hadn’t stayed, you wouldn’t have been bothered.”

“You say that like this is your fault, or like I would hate to take care of our beautiful granddaughter with you. If I hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have even known our son needed us. Well, _you_. I mean, why else do you think he came here? I don’t have any experience with babies…except with giving them up.”

Regina shifted the baby in her arms so she could reach out and grab Emma’s bicep with one of them. “You’re here now,” the brunette reminded her. “You’re here for Henry and now you get to be here for Hope.”

“I just…feel like it isn’t enough,” she confessed.

She looked down at Hope as she squirmed in Regina’s arm and started to cough between her cries. She placed a hand on Hope’s chest and moved close enough to the brunette that Hope became comfortably sandwiched between their bodies.

“It’s enough, Emma,” Regina assured her.

“Then why won’t she stop crying?”

Regina faintly smiled and rolled her eyes. “Being here is one thing,” the brunette said. “Soothing her is something else entirely. So let’s focus on that.”

Regina looked down at Hope and smiled a little brighter at their granddaughter. There was so much warmth in her expression before she released Emma’s bicep, slid her arm beneath the baby and started to gently rock and bounce Hope.

Emma kept a hand on Hope’s chest while Regina started to hum to the baby. Slowly, Hope started to quiet down and stared up with wide, brown eyes at Regina. It was an incredible sight to see.

Regina’s smile cracked as she continued to hum and she flashed Hope her teeth. There was nothing but happiness in Regina’s expression and that was just as incredible as seeing Hope relax in the other woman’s arms.

Before she could stop herself, Emma took in the brunette’s disheveled appearance. Regina’s hair was wavier than it usually was most days and her makeup had been washed off. It hadn’t been when they’d watched the movie earlier that evening, so she must have removed it after Emma had dozed off. She wore a sleeveless silk top and short, matching silk shorts. There was so much olive skin to look at, but Emma couldn’t look away from Regina’s face for too long.

“Gorgeous,” Emma said.

“She really is,” Regina replied as she turned and looked at the blonde. Her smile fell when she realized Emma had been talking about her and not Hope. Her eyes dropped their focus to Emma’s lips before they flicked up to lock onto Emma’s eyes again.

For ten years, Emma had danced around the truth. She’d avoided her feelings and paid attention to all the wrong things. Nothing was more important than what she’d just figured out in that moment. Looking at Regina, everything became crystal clear. That moment and every moment with the brunette and their family was all that really mattered.

She slowly leaned in and closed what little space remained between them except for the space that was created by Hope. Careful not to crush their granddaughter between them, Emma pressed their lips together in a soft kiss. As soon as they touched, a burst of light erupted from their contact.

Emma pulled back just far enough to look at Regina and the two of them stared at each other, breathless and wide-eyed.

Hope made a few content little sounds and their attention shifted to the baby. They smiled down at her for a moment and then looked up at each other again.

“Finally,” Regina said with a smile.

Emma furrowed her brow.

“I’ve been waiting for you to do that for seven months,” Henry chimed in from the stairs.

“Seven—” Emma stopped herself and turned to look at Henry before she asked, “Since Hope was born?”

Their daughter-in-law joined him on the stairs and smiled at them, despite how tired she looked. “Why do you think we named her Hope?”

“Between you two and Grandma and Gramps, how could we not name her that,” Henry added with a smile of his own.

Emma and Regina looked at each other again. Emma still looked shocked, but Regina looked a little relieved. She also looked happier than she had when she’d stared down at Hope and started to hum, which Emma hadn’t thought was possible until she saw that look of happiness being directed at her.

“I love you,” Regina said.

Emma breathed out a laugh and said, “In case the kiss wasn’t clear enough, I love you, too.”

They moved in again and kissed without any hesitation. Hope remained in Regina’s arms between them and the second kiss was as soft as the first, but there was more passion and promise that time. Their connection, strong as it had always been, was reinforced in that moment. She’d never felt more cared for and loved than she had whenever she was with Regina, especially as they kissed.

That night and every night after, Emma finally knew without a doubt where her home was and would always be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are all the prompts I was able to finish within the month for SQ Fanon. I might add more short fics to this story based on the prompts from the fanon list I didn't have the chance to do before the deadline, but for now this is where I leave this. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. :)


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